France’s political turmoil deepened on Monday as Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu and his newly formed government resigned just hours after unveiling the cabinet, sending shockwaves through financial markets and plunging French assets.
The abrupt resignation comes 27 days after Lecornu’s appointment and only 14 hours since his government’s inception, making it the briefest administration in the country’s recent history.
Investors reacted swiftly, with French’s stock market index, CAC 40, plummeting by 2%—its steepest single-day loss since August—dragged lower by sharp declines in major banking stocks, including BNP Paribas, Societe Generale, and Credit Agricole, which each fell between 5.7% and 7.3%. The euro also took a hit, retreating 0.7% to USD 1.1665 as the crisis escalated.
Lecornu, a close confidant of President Emmanuel Macron, offered his resignation to the president Monday morning following a torrent of criticism from both opposition parties and disgruntled allies.
The cabinet announced on Sunday—following weeks of tension-filled negotiations with various political factions—sparked immediate backlash. Many in the fractured parliament judged the new administration as being either too right-leaning or insufficiently conservative. With no party holding a clear parliamentary majority, questions surfaced about the government’s durability even before it convened its first meeting.
The fallout was immediate and severe, with calls from both ends of the political spectrum for substantial change. Jordan Bardella, head of the far-right National Rally, demanded parliamentary dissolution and fresh elections: “There can be no return to stability without a return to the polls and the dissolution of the National Assembly.”
On the left, France Unbowed’s Mathilde Panot declared, “Lecornu resigns. Three Prime Ministers defeated in less than a year. The countdown has begun. Macron must go.” He was also the fifth prime minister in the span of only two years.
The situation marks a sharp escalation in instability that has gripped French politics since Macron’s re-election in 2022. His call for snap parliamentary elections last year only yielded a more fragmented legislature, further eroding the tradition of stable governance envisioned under the 1958 constitution of the Fifth Republic—a system established to overcome the chaos of earlier eras.
Today, Macron faces a divided parliament where the center struggles to maintain balance, while the political fringes—both far-right and far-left—exert mounting influence. Unlike other Western democracies, France has little tradition in building coalitions, complicating efforts to forge consensus amid ongoing volatility.
